


Autumn Leaves

by chateau



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Autumn, Fluff, Hot Chocolate, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, One Shot, POV Tyler, Save Me, Strangers to Lovers, Tumblr Prompt, all is well, also tyler collects acorns, josh makes a mean cup of hot chocolate, they watch stranger things and cuddle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7914829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chateau/pseuds/chateau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of the prompt:<br/>"I left my bag at the park and you saw that it was mine so you chased after me to give it back and now you want to know why I have a bag full of acorns and no umbrella ‘cuz it’s raining."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Just warning you, this gets worse as it progresses but it's still 100% fluff and pure. I saw a leaf on the ground and this is what happens because I love autumn so much.

I was sitting in my usual spot at the park. Cross-legged under the tree with the widest trunk. Red, orange, yellow, and brown leaves are scattered around me in all shapes and sizes. _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_ is open in my lap, and a steaming cup of tea is waiting next to me. Pure peacefulness. I try to come to this park every weekend, or when I have free time. Hardly anyone ever comes here. The swings are rusty and the slide always has a pool of water waiting for you at the bottom of it. This park isn't very appealing to anyone but me. I love the emptiness and quiet. Sometimes children come here to play their imaginary games, sometimes locals come here to sit and people watch. I enjoy people watching too. It's fun to study people, in the least creepy way possible, and make up stories on why they decided to come to this particular park. After all, there are plenty nicer parks in Columbus.

 

I haven't seen anyone else here yet today. Perhaps I'm just too engrossed in my book to pay any attention. Deciding that I'm bored, I stand up, using the tree for leverage. Bad idea sitting down for such a long period of time. I scan the area around me before focusing on the many acorns that have fallen onto the ground. _So this large tree I'm so fond of is an oak,_ I think to myself. _The more you know._ I begin to pick up some of the acorns, stuffing them into my jacket’s pockets. Then I remember I brought a backpack with me, so I walk back over to the tree and retrieve it, emptying my pockets full of acorns into my bag. Satisfied with my bag of acorns, (which I have _no_ idea what I will be doing with) I sit back down and resume my book.

 

A cool breeze nips at my ears and a shiver runs down my back. I pull my jacket impossibly closer to me and try to ignore the typical autumn weather, but when I look up to the sky I can see dark clouds.

 

“Just fucking peachy,” I whisper to nobody in particular. I look around and notice someone else at the park. He is on the bench only about 50 feet away from where I am. He's laying on his back, arms folded on his chest and knees bent. It doesn't look like a comfortable position but the man doesn't seem bothered. His earbuds are in and his eyes are closed. I wonder if he knows that it's about to rain in probably less than five minutes. _Definitely_ less than five minutes. It starts raining hard right that moment and I don't even think twice before pulling the hood of my jacket over my head and fast walking back to my house. I mentally curse at myself for not riding my bike here, or not even checking the weather before venturing out.

 

Not thirty seconds later do I hear a voice, probably calling to me. I freeze and turn back around when I realize that the familiar weight of my backpack on my shoulders is missing.

 

“Wait!” The voice calls again. It's the same man who looked like he was napping on the park bench a few minutes ago. He is jogging over to me, my backpack in his hand, and an umbrella in the other. Once he reaches me I take the bag and zip it up after checking to make sure all of my belongings are there.

 

“Thanks, dude. It's bad enough it's raining, I almost left my backpack under that tree,” I tell him. He no longer has his earbuds in. His hair is slightly curly and faded pink. He also has a nose ring, pink gauges, and a beautifully colored sleeve of tattoos. I go to turn away and resume my fast walking to my house but he stops me again.

 

“Hey, uh, why did you have so many acorns in your backpack?” The colorful stranger questions. I think about asking him why he was looking through my bag, but realize that it's even weirder that my bag is filled with acorns.

 

“I-I don't know, I was bored and they were sitting there and-“ I’m cut off when he starts giggling, yes _giggling_ at me. God, why was I stuttering so much? I never stutter.

 

“Something making you nervous?” He asks with a smirk. He asks a lot of questions.

 

“ _No._ I mean…yes-I mean I don't know. Why are you asking so many questions?” I scramble for my words. He _is_ making me nervous. You couldn't blame me, he was kind of really attractive.

 

He's still giggling at me, then says, “I'm only going to ask you two more questions. Do you not have an umbrella? You must be getting soaked.”

 

“No,” I sigh, “I had no idea it was going to rain.”

 

He purses his lips for a moment before replying, “Well, you totally can say no, but I drove here, my place isn't too far. I could drive you back to your’s or you could even come to mine? I wouldn't want you walking all the way home and risk ruining your precious acorns.” The smirk returns.

 

“I don't know, um, I guess I could come to yours. It's not like I have anything better to do,” I say. Okay, normally I would never go to some guys house that I literally just met, but this stranger feels different. He isn't some creepy old dude, he looks to be around my age. Not to mention, he's hot.

 

“Great,” he smiles, “Oh! I almost forgot. I'm so stupid. My name’s Josh.”

 

Josh motions for me to step under his umbrella with him, and I do, before the both of us start towards where his car is parked.

 

“I'm Tyler,” I inform him. We've reached his car and he closes his umbrella before opening the passenger door for me. I blush slightly. I step into the car and sit in the worn seat, taking my soaked jacket off and folding it on my lap.

 

Josh's car isn't dirty, despite it being old looking. It has an alien keychain hanging from the rear-view mirror and smells like a cross between axe body spray and sugar cookies. Josh soon joins me in the car and starts the engine. Immediately, warm air fills the small space and the radio comes on at full blast volume, making me jump from being startled. I could tell Josh likes his music.

 

“Oh my god I'm sorry. I like listening to my music loud and I certainly wasn't expecting to bring anyone home with me today. Sorry.” He profusely apologizes but I shush him and let him know that I'm okay.

 

Josh pulls out of the parking lot and starts driving toward his house. I notice that it's generally in the same direction my house is in. Maybe we're neighbors and have no idea. I wonder if he just moved in. Taking out my phone, I type out a text for my best friend and roommate, Mark.

 

**_You: hey, I'm going to a friends house for a bit. Got caught in the rain at the park. If I don't text you in an hour, call the police._ **

 

“So how long have you lived in Columbus?” I break the awkward silence between us.

 

“Actually I've lived here all my life, but only recently moved into the neighborhood that I'm in currently. Finally saved up enough money to get my own place.” Josh replies.

 

I hum in agreement. “What about you?” He asks, pulling into the same neighborhood I reside in.

 

“Same here, actually. Believe it or not, we might be neighbors. I live in this neighborhood as well with my good friend Mark,” I tell Josh. My phone dings, signaling I've received a new text from Mark. Josh pulls up to what I can assume to be his house.

 

“Dude that's so cool. What a coincidence. Maybe that'll come in handy if we become friends.” Josh exits the car and jogs around it to open my door as well, still being a gentleman. I step out of his car and rain is still falling, but it has slowed down significantly. He motions for me to follow him and we walk up to his porch, finally shielded from the weather. He fumbles with his keys for a minute then unlocks his front door. The both of us stumble in and let out a sigh.

 

“Well, this is where I live,” Josh deadpans. It has a similar smell to the one of his car. Like cookies and camp fires and cinnamon. Like autumn. Like a _home._ It's all so comforting to me. I wouldn't mind staying here for a long time.

 

“Your house is nice. It reminds me of my parents house, but less judgmental and more warm and cozy,” I tell Josh. I look at him and see his eyes flicker up to mine. His eyes remind me of his house, warm and cozy, but I don't tell him that.

 

“Thanks,” he makes it sound like a question. “You can take your shoes off and make yourself comfortable, or you can just stand there by the door. Your choice,” he says sarcastically. I laugh and remove my shoes and socks, since they also got soaked from the rain. I take a good look around Josh's house. It isn't much different than mine, besides the furniture and decorations. All of the houses are set up the same in this neighborhood. It's quite a boring neighborhood. Josh has a couch, a beanbag chair, and a TV set up in his living room with what looks to be about ten different blankets scattered throughout. I take a seat on the couch and take out my phone, reading the text from Mark.

 

**_Mark: lol what? Call the police? Whatever dude, see ya later. Have fun._ **

****

I lock my phone then glance over to the kitchen that's connected to the living room. Josh is in there pouring something into two large mugs.

 

“I hope you like hot chocolate,” he calls over to me. I perk up at this, I love hot chocolate and I'm quite cold at the moment.

 

“It's my favorite,” I tell him, walking over into the kitchen where Josh is rummaging through his fridge.

 

He turns around with a can of whipped cream in one hand and a bottle of chocolate sauce in the other. I smile and he flashes a smile back. “I'm guessing you want both of these on your hot chocolate?” He asks, as if it wasn't obvious.

 

“Duh,” I roll my eyes and laugh, taking the sugary toppings from his hands. After putting a pile of whipped cream and probably half the bottle of chocolate sauce on my hot chocolate, Josh does the same.

 

“Open your mouth,” he tells me, and I realize what he is going to do. I open my mouth and tilt my head back just in time for him to put a ton of the whipped cream into my mouth, some even getting on my nose. I try to eat all of it without spitting it out from laughing so hard, just barely accomplishing that.

 

“You jerk!” I yell at him, teasingly. He laughs along with me and we take our mugs back into the living room. I sit down on the end of the couch and surprisingly, Josh sits right next to me, grabbing one of his blankets and draping it over both of our laps. The rain outside and our soft breathing being the only noise heard.

 

“Have you seen _Stranger Things_ on Netflix yet?” He asks, and I shake my head.

 

“I had to cancel my Netflix account to have enough money to pay rent,” I reply, sadly. Josh grabs the TV remote and presses the power button. Netflix is already displayed on the large screen with _Stranger Things_ at the top.

 

“It's really good so far. I'm on episode six but we can start it from the beginning,” Josh tells me, and clicks play.

 

We sit there for almost a full episode before my phone dings. It's a text from Mark.

 

**_Mark: you ok?_ **

****

**_You: yeah I'm good._ **

****

I lock my phone before pocketing it and resuming to watch the show. Every few minutes I see Josh glance at me, sometimes I glance back at him and our eyes meet, only to quickly avert back to the television. At one scary part in the show, I instinctively tense up and hide my face in Josh's side. He seems to take this opportunity to place his arm around me and squeeze my shoulder slightly.

 

“Is this okay?” He asks in a whisper, referring to our closeness. I nod my head and then rest it on his shoulder. Josh is warm, he reminds me of a teddy bear. I don't ever want this to end because, although I just met the guy, he makes me feel safer. This is a good feeling that I haven't felt in a long time.

 

At some point, I must've nodded off to sleep, because I can hear Josh saying my name and nudging my shoulder.

 

“Tyler. Tyler. Tyler wake up. I need to get up and pee but I can't because your head is in my lap. Also I think your roommate is calling you,” that's all it takes for me to jolt awake.

 

“Shit,” I whisper to myself. Mark is probably worried. I sit up straight and glance at the clock, 8:42 pm.

 

“How long have I been out?” I look at Josh through hooded eyes and feel around for my phone.

 

“About 3 hours, I figured I'd let you sleep. You're a cute napper,” Josh says, and here comes the blushing again. “You're cute when you blush, as well,” he adds, getting up and walking towards the hallway.

 

I unlock my phone and see that I have two missed calls from Mark, quickly tapping his contact and putting the phone up to my ear. It rings three times before he picks it up.

 

“Tyler! Dude where are you? I texted all of your friends and they all said that you're not with them. Are you okay? Did you get kidnapped? Do I need to call the cops?” He runs out of breath listing all of the possible life threatening situations I could be in. Typical Mark.

 

“No dude, I'm with Josh-“

 

“Who is Josh?!”

 

“I'll explain later. Mark I'm making friends be happy for me. I'll be home soon and tell you all about it. See ya. Bye dude.” I hang up before he could go on another rant and worry himself even more. I look back to the hallway and see Josh returning.

 

“Sorry I fell asleep on you,” I say, suddenly embarrassed.

 

“No, no it's fine. Don't worry. Do you need a ride home?” Josh asks me.

 

“Probably not, I mean, we live in the same neighborhood. I could probably walk home from here,” I remind him, and he looks slightly defeated.

 

“Oh right. So um, could I maybe get your number? We could hang out again some time?” For once Josh doesn't sound confident in his words, and his body language shows that he is nervous. It's quite adorable.

 

I smile, hopefully easing his nerves and reply, “Of course, I had a lot of fun, even though I used you as a human pillow,” Josh exhales, relieved, before we exchange our numbers. I put on my still damp shoes and jacket, this time remembering to swing my backpack over my shoulder. I  turn to Josh one last time and impulsively kiss him on the cheek. Now it was _his_ turn to blush. “Bye, Josh,” I wave to him before turning and walking out into the cool autumn air towards my house. Butterflies going crazy in my stomach and autumn leaves crunching under my feet.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, kudos are highly appreciated. You people make my day. xx


End file.
